5:15pm. An actor stands on the balcony of the Segedunum Tower, beside him a guitar-player. The musician starts to play some Celtic music. The actor becomes a narrator who will tell The Legend of The Winged Boy – a fictional, legendary figure of the north.
The narrator begins to tell how it was in the time when the Hadrian’s Wall was built and separated the Romans from the rest of the Britons: the tribes of the north. He tells of the fights between the Roman soldiers and the people of the north, and he tells of a particular encounter; one day, a women of the north encounters a man with wings – and falls in love with him. She doesn’t realise that he is an angel because she has never heard of such a thing.
One thing leads to another: their love results in a baby, a boy with tiny wings. He is both adored and derided by the people of the north. He grows up and eventually learns to fly. Although his mother warns him not to fly across the wall, one day the young boy feels the urge to rebel.
He shows off to the Roman soldiers, begins to tease and banter with them. The Romans are alarmed; they tried to catch the “Winged Boy” – as they now call him – but stand no chance; they cannot fly. Every time the Romans see the Winged Boy they send light-signals over the Wall. For the soldiers a sign the Britons should watch out; for the people of the north a reason to be proud. They hope that the time will come when they can tear down the wall. But the Romans are clever; they have the idea of dressing up a soldier as an angel.
As soon as the Winged Boy sees the fake Roman angel, he walks straight into the trap. He is caught and the people of the north hear nothing from him for a long time. But one night, they see the “Roman lights” along the Wall again and a lot of people think they have seen the Winged Boy flying...
Today, on 13 March 2010, the “Roman lights” will be lit again. Will it draw the Winged Boy out again too?
The people of Newcastle will be able to see if the Winged Boy and perhaps a few other angels come to take part in the “Illumination of Hadrian’s Wall”.
Segedunum viewing tower (museum)
Duration: ca. 20 minutes |
